This invention relates to foul release coatings and articles coated therewith. More particularly, this invention relates to foul release coatings containing organic compatible oils that have enhanced foul release performance.
A perennial major aggravation to shippers and users of marine equipment in contact with water is the tendency of such equipment to become encrusted with varieties of wildlife, as illustrated by barnacles and zebra mussels. This tendency is often referred to as marine fouling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,670 describes in considerable detail, the types of treatments that have been employed, starting as early as 1854, to minimize marine fouling. Treatment materials have included compounds of such metals as copper, tin, arsenic, mercury, zinc, lead, antimony, silver and iron, as well as toxic organic materials such as strychnine and atropine. Due to environmental concerns, the use of such materials has been discouraged.
More recently, polyorganosiloxanes (hereinafter sometimes designated "silicones" for brevity) have been found useful as anti-fouling coatings. They include condensation cured room temperature vulcanizable (hereinafter sometimes "RTV") compositions comprising silica or calcium carbonate as a filler in combination with silanol- or dialkoxy-terminated silicones, catalysts and crosslinking agents. They may be made sprayable by dilution with solvents, typically volatile organic compounds such as hydrocarbons.
There is still a need, however, to improve various properties of RTV-based foul release coatings, particularly their release efficiency and their effective lifetime.